BOSTON – David Ortiz had already gone deep once. And the Fenway Park faithful were on their feet in the bottom of the eighth inning, anticipating another game-changing home run.

On the mound was yet another rookie pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, one who had given up a run in a blowout loss the night before.

Clinging to a 4-2 lead with Ortiz representing the tying run, manager Mike Matheny made the decision to stick with right-hander Carlos Martinez against the lefty-swinging Ortiz with the game on the line.

"Obviously, he's a very good hitter but I trust myself and I knew I had the stuff to get him out," Martinez said in Spanish.

Although he didn't get Ortiz out, he did keep him in the ballpark.

An infield single prolonged the inning and brought Mike Napoli to the plate as the go-ahead run. Once again, Matheny stuck with the 22-year-old.

"Carlos gave up a run yesterday," Matheny said. "He was very animated about how badly he wanted to pitch again and get back out there. And he proved that it wasn't just a lot of talk."

Martinez just kept pumping in fastball after fastball in the upper 90s. And on the third pitch to Napoli, he induced a popup to end the inning.

Everywhere in the 2013 World Series, the story always seems to come down to the experience of the Boston Red Sox against the youth of the St. Louis Cardinals.

As St. Louis evened the series in Game 2, every single pitch for the Cardinals was thrown by a rookie.

Starter Michael Wacha went six innings, allowing only the home run to Ortiz, to get the win.

"The kid continues to impress," Matheny said. "I don't know what else you could ask. Put him on any stage and he does a real nice job of limiting distractions."

Ortiz's home run was certainly a disruptive moment. It marked the first runs Wacha had given up in his last 19 innings. But the Cardinals came back to take the lead, putting Martinez in position to get what amounted to the most important six outs of the game.

Martinez pitched in Game 1, giving up a run in a blowout Boston win. However, Matheny wasn't afraid to go right back to him in a pressure-packed situation.

Then first-year closer Trevor Rosenthal slammed the door shut by striking out the side to end it.

"They sure don't act like rookies," said third baseman David Freese. "That's a rare thing, especially in this situation."

This time, the youngsters prevailed over the veterans and the Cardinals were able to split the first two games in Boston.

"All these young guys just give you a chance to win. It was great to see," said general manager John Mozeliak, the architect of the Cardinals farm system that's developed a reputation as one of the best in the majors.

"I think the key thing for us is to move on and we did. Now going back to St. Louis, 1-1 you feel like you're in a much better spot."